This blogging thing

Over the weekend, this li'l old blog clocked up 100,000 page views. To non-bloggers, this means pretty much nothing. To bloggers, it is a bit of a milestone. Some blogs probably clock up the 100,000 every week, but to a little blogger, it is a big deal. So, thank you to all those who visit here regularly, and especially to those who comment, here, or on the Facebook page. 

It is lovely to hear from you. Please do feel free to comment, even if you never have before. I've actually had a couple of emails recently asking me how to comment on the blog. To see comments for a particular post/ entry, you need to click on the title of the post... then the comments section should be visible below the post. Feel free to email me if this is still not working, though I'm not sure I'll be able to help!

I've been doing the blogging thing now for over 2 years (15 months on this particular blog). It is still enjoyable. It is a great way for me to think/ write through various questions and answers about the big things (trusting God, family, marriage parenting), and also to record the little things (family outings and activities, cute moments, things I'm trying out). I would still do it all if no-one ever read it, but it is even better hearing from others in similar situations, and with similar (or different) thinking... 

I've also loved getting to know some other bloggers. I thought I'd list some blogs I love to read. For the sake of brevity, I've only included Aussie blogs. This is not an exhaustive list... there are so many wonderful blogs out there. If you are looking for some online reading material, you may enjoy:

(1) My fellow LOAH writers: Jess (Diary of a SAHM), Deb (Aspiring Mum), Lisa (Mummy's Undeserved Blessings) and Alyce (Blossom Heart)

(2) Mummy blogs: Be a Fun Mum, Childhood 101, Planning with Kids, Squigglemum, The Imperfect Housewife, Lohtown Life

(3) Other Aussie Christians: 168hrs, The Fountainside

(4) Getting organised: The Organised Housewife 

What blogs do you enjoy reading? (Feel free to add your own blog... I'd love to find you, if I haven't already)

The dust settles on 2011

 

Hi there.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and restful New Year/ holiday period. I'm really looking forward to The Useful Box in 2012. For those of you who have read here, but never commented, I'd love to hear from you this year! If you would like to keep up-to-date with posts this year, you can always subscribe to my feed, or subscribe via email, or "like" the Facebook page. Look in the toolbar on the right-hand side to do any of these.

Okay, shameless self-promotion over with...

In case you are new to The Useful Box, I thought I'd kick off the year with links to the 5 most popular posts in 2011. I "borrowed" this idea from some of my favourite bloggers. (Please note: most popular is not necessarily the same as the best (in my opinion). But, the people have spoken...)

1. The post about our advent calendar for 2011 

2. Growing language skills through use of nursery rhymes

3. Turning to God in anxious times

4. How many kids is too many?

5. What being a Christian mum means to me

How was your holiday break?

Joy to the world...

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord." Luke 2:8-11 

Thank you to my friends (real-life and online) who have read, interacted and commented on The Useful Box in 2011. Thanks also to my online friends from Life on a Hill. I pray for all of you to have a restful, joyous and reflective Christmas, and a lovely new year.

I will be taking some time out from blogging for the next couple of weeks. I look forward to hanging out with you here again next year.

Are mummies superficial?

My husband Matt is very supportive of this whole blogging thing. He loves that blogging encourages me to think more deeply about certain topics, allows me to garner the opinions of others and gives me a bit of a mental outlet. He receives my new blog posts in his email every morning, and enjoys reading most of them.  

In some ways though, Matt is baffled by blogging, and in particular, by "mummy" blogging. Although Matt receives the blog emails each day, I'm sure he skips over anything about cooking and housework. (He hasn't told me this, but I'm right aren't I?). Matt always laughs about the fact that one of my most popular posts ever (in terms of the number of comments received), was one on my old blog about whether you leave your clothes-pegs on the clothesline, or keep them in a peg basket. Then a post about the famine in Africa, or the impact of large families, or the Bible is somewhat overlooked.

It does make me wonder if I have become more superficial as a mum? I  sometimes almost always find it easier to read and comment on blog posts about housework than about poverty. I find myself attracted to posts on making homemade ice cream more than those on living a godly life. I read a short post  (or a post with beautiful pictures) over a long post. I prefer to read Alexander McCall Smith over Charles Dickens. I would rather read "How to really love your child" by Ross Campbell than "The Cross of Christ" by John Stott (although even in my deep-thinking uni days, I never made it through "The Cross of Christ"!)

In our family, my husband worries about the "big" stuff (work, where we live, where we go to church, schools and the education system, Australia's political system, theology) and I worry about the "small" stuff (our home routine, housework, kids' activities, returning library books...). Though we both help each other out (I have a strong opinion on some of the big stuff, and he gives me ideas and assistance with the small stuff), my natural inclination is towards the "at home", and his is towards the "out of home". Occasionally something like the famine in Africa, or a part of the Bible will jolt me out of my home-based focus. But more often than not, I am too busy contemplating what we will have for dinner to contemplate the world economy.

I don't think this is all bad. I also don't think "narrow-focus" is always the same as "superficial". There is still huge intensity of relationships, emotions, ideas... even in a single home environment.

What do you think? Are you a "superficial" mummy?

Blog fail: 6 blog posts I never read

I have just been trying to clear the massive backlog of posts in my Google reader. I got to thinking about certain kinds of posts. These are the posts that won't even make me pause as I scroll through my  "unread" list, let alone tempt me to visit the actual blog. 

{DISCLAIMER: I know I am guilty of at least some of these types of posts myself... If your blog is in my Google reader at all, obviously there is something keeping it there. Others will obviously disagree with my assessment, but these posts just shout out to me... keep moving, nothing to see here}

1) Any blog post that is a review and giveaway for something boring and/or insignificant: a DVD, a mop, a cleaning product. Even worse, when almost every blogger I am subscribed to is giving away the exact same product. B-O-R-I-N-G!

I can usually twig to one of these posts by noticing the over-sized picture of the said boring product at the beginning of the post. Moving right along...

2) Posts that are very long, with no photos and no paragraph breaks. I've got 100s of blog posts I want to read. I need the main ideas to stand out!

3) Vlogs. I know, I know, I need to get with the times. But seriously, if I want to watch a vlog, why aren't I just watching tele? I want to READ blogs, not WATCH them.

4) Blog posts with terrible grammar, spelling mistakes, punctuation. Of course, the odd mistake is forgivable (I hope you forgive me my mistakes), but I can't enjoy posts with language errors here, there and everywhere (+ my husband doesn't like to watch the steam coming out of my ears as I read)

5) The "woe-is-me-no-one-reads-my-blog" blog post. Come on. Chill out. Every blogger (I think) has those moments of regret that no-one commented on a certain post, or disappointment that no-one seems as interested in your blog as you are! We don't all need to hear about it. In reality, only a small percentage of bloggers have millions or even thousands of readers. If you don't enjoy blogging just for the sake of it, don't do it.

Maybe next week I will be more positive and write about the types of posts that always inspire me to read on!

What turns you off reading a blog post?

Bloggy stuff: Comments

Today I decided to mix-it-up a bit with the comment system here on the blog.

For me, messing around with blog design is neither easy nor enjoyable. I enjoy writing. I sometimes enjoy using photos to add to what I am writing about. Trying to use computer code and whatnot to make the blog look pretty, well, it is really not my thing. My eyes start to glaze over as soon as I hear other bloggers referring to HTML and such. (You may have guessed this by looking at my blog!)

But, I LOVE hearing your comments, especially the ones that challenge my thinking, add to what I have written, or give another perspective. One thing I have missed since moving this blog from the old Wordpress site is being able to reply to comments individually. I am hoping that this new comment system will allow me to do that.

I hope that the system will be easy for you to use too. As far as I can tell, you now follow the following steps to leave a comment:

1. Click on the title of the blog post you wish to comment on (to make the comments visible - they may not come up automatically as they have before).
2. Put in your name, or initials or whatever, your email address (or a fake one if you must), and your blog (if you have one and would like to link to it)
3. Write your comment
4. Feel free to reply to any other comments that have been left
5. Note that I will delete any comments that are deliberately attacking/ rude/ antagonistic etc, particularly if directed to one of the other comments. (I am happy to say that I have never deleted a comment for this reason to date, so I'm hoping this won't be an issue).

 As I am so technologically challenged, I think I managed to erase a couple of comments to the "Wordless Wednesday" post today when I was changing over the comment system. If I deleted your comment, please don't take offense, it was unintentional!

Happy commenting!